The MONTHLY Motivator - May 2006

Richness of life

What comes to mind when you think of yourself as being rich? Do you see
yourself living in a big, impressive house, driving a luxurious
automobile, traveling the world and staying in the finest resorts? Do you
imagine your friends and relatives being impressed with you and having
more respect for you because of your material wealth? Can you visualize
the freedom from worry that would come from having all your bills paid,
and knowing that you’re financially independent? Do you envision being
able to spend more time with your family and with those things that truly
interest you?

Often, the word “rich” conjures up images such as these. But is that
really what being rich is all about? Does a large bank account necessarily
translate into a life of richness and joy?

The truth is that material wealth is not the cause of richness but rather
it is one of many things that can result from living richly. That is
precisely backwards from the way it is often perceived to be. You may see
wealthy people living lives of richness and fulfillment and assume that
they’re living that way because of their material wealth, when actually
it’s the other way around. Material wealth is merely one possible result
of true richness.

There is a connection, but it’s not in the direction that it is generally
assumed to be. That mistaken perception can be costly and unfortunate. It
keeps far too many people from experiencing and enjoying the fullness and
richness of life. It keeps far too many people from enjoying the sense of
satisfaction and fulfillment, the material abundance and the other good
things that come as a result of being truly rich.

The thinking often goes something like this. “I’m going to do whatever it
takes to get a lot of money and then I’ll be able to live a rich and
satisfying life.” You want to live richly, so you assume that you must
first get your hands on a lot of money or material goods.

Yet when your focus is solely on the money, the things you have to do to
get that money will very likely dismay, confuse and frustrate you. When
you see money not for what it is -- something that flows from life’s
richness -- but rather as something that you must get before you can
partake of life’s richness, it can turn your priorities inside out. The
result is that you can begin to think of money as something you must take
from others. That perspective can lead you to compromise your most dearly
held values, disappointing those who are close to you, and causing you to
take advantage of others. While such negative strategies might result in
some short-term gains, they will never result in true, lasting richness
for your life.

If you go around thinking “I need more money, I need more money, I need
more money” what you’re really telling yourself is “I don’t have enough, I
don’t have enough, I don’t have enough.” The harder you work to make more
money, the more you’re persuading yourself that you don’t have enough. The
more you convince yourself that you don’t have enough money, the more
you’ll believe it to be true. And what you believe about yourself will
indeed become your reality. The harder you struggle to get more money, the
less likely you are to succeed.

So how do you get out of that vicious circle? You can start by turning
around the connection between

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